Investors React to Trump's North Korea Threats

Japanese markets were closed for a holiday, but the tense mood dragged Asian shares lower and an MSCI index of stocks across the globe posted its largest weekly drop since the week before Donald Trump won the presidential election in November.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned on Friday that a war between the USA and North Korea would be disastrous, and said his country was proposing - in conjunction with China - a path to a peaceful resolution of the nuclear standoff. Silver also rose, gaining 43 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $16.82 an ounce.

In economic news, German consumer inflation grew an annual 1.7% in July, slightly faster than the 1.6% increase registered in June, final data from Destatis showed.

The all-important July inflation numbers out of the USA failed to satisfy dollar bulls' hopes of strongly putting a Fed rate hike later in the year back on the table.

Markets also await speeches by Fed officials Robert Kaplan and Neel Kashkari for further direction.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 109.96 yen from 110.48 yen late Tuesday. The Dow slumped 204.69 points or 0.9% to 21,844.01, the Nasdaq plummeted 135.46 points or 2.1% to 6,216.87 and the S&P 500 tumbled 35.81 points or 1.5% to 2,438.21.

BAD LOOK: Investor concerns about slowing growth in Nvidia's data center business weighed on the company's shares, even though the maker of graphics chips posted earnings that beat expectations. "There are four more (inflation) prints between now and the December FOMC meeting and we expect the Fed to remain data-dependent, if a touch more cautious", TD Securities said in a note.

NAB lost 1% despite the bank reporting a 5% rise in its third-quarter cash profit. WTI oil prices are trading lower by 0.5 per cent at $48.34 a barrel, while MCX oil prices are trading lower by 0.6 percent at Rs 3,108 a barrel.

USA gold futures for December delivery was mostly unchanged at $1,290.50 per ounce. With Asian bourses and U.S. stock futures weakening early on Wednesday, the safe-haven 10-year Treasury yield was last down 3 basis points. The euro held steady at $1.1752.

The 30-year bond last rose 5/32 in price to yield 2.8107 per cent, from 2.818 per cent late on Wednesday. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 1.1 percent. "Risk aversion is still very much a concern for markets", said Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto.The dollar index .dxy , which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of other major currencies, fell 0.14 percent.The dollar weakened after news that U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell in July, recording their biggest drop in almost a year and pointing to a further moderation in inflation that could delay a Federal Reserve interest rate increase.U.S. Treasury long-dated yields dropped to six-week lows, pressured by U.S. The index closed at its highest level since November 8, when Trump was elected president. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.2 percent.

US Navy destroyer conducts operation in South China Sea
Geng reiterated that the U.S. provocation would force China to take further measures to strengthen homeland defense capacity. A Chinese defense spokesman said at the time "the parties concerned don't need to overreact and make a great fuss about it".

Watch Rogers Cup 2017 on TV, online
For large spells of the match, the Swiss appeared unusually frustrated, as his first serve dwindled and his much-improved backhand regularly misfired.

Gold climbs amid US-North Korean 'sabre-rattling'
In the United Kingdom , gold mining stocks Randgold Resource and Fresnillo were among the few to gain - up 2.8% and 4.9%. The market was waiting f or US consumer inflation data on Friday that would offer more clues about future Fed decisions.

Paris open to video games at Olympics
IOC president Thomas Bach has said that eSports are contrary to "Olympic rules and values of sport". Video games and eSports may have a chance of being part of the 2024 Olympics .

North Korea standoff wipes $1trn off global stocks
Ongoing global glut concerns lingered in oil markets despite a bigger-than-expected draw in US crude inventories. The DJIA was poised for a fall of 1.1%, making for its worst week since a 1.5% drop in the one ended March 24.

Justin Upton destroys baseball with walk-off home run
Eddie Rosario , Byron Buxton and Joe Mauer all homered, and Joe drove in five runs for the first time since 2010. Miguel Cabrera came out of the game after he singled in the fifth inning, complaining of lower back stiffness.

Buhari Says He Is Okay But Following Doctors Orders
Buhari also "lauded Nigerian television stations and the media generally", for helping him keep tabs on happenings in the country. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is in charge of Nigeria, which is struggling amid its worst economic slump in about 30 years.

Olivier Giroud confirms Arsenal stay
Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez was never "close" to joining Arsenal , according to manager Arsene Wenger . Even after Danny Welbeck levelled on the stroke of halftime, Vardy restored Leicester's lead after the break.

Pearson into 100m hurdles final
Back in London , and back fit and firing, Pearson flew out of the blocks and held off Dawn Harper-Nelson to take the title.